ATM kinase compositions and methods

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides methods for detecting activation of ATM kinase, DNA damage, and DNA damaging agents. Further provided are antibodies which specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ataxia Telangiectasia-Mutated (ATM) kinase. Methods of identifying agents which modulate the activation and activity of ATM kinase are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 11/076,405, filed Mar. 9, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,692, which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/351,733, filed Jan. 24, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,916,627, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/307,077, filed Nov. 27, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,992. These prior applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This invention was made in the course of research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH Grant Nos. CA71387). The U.S. government may have certain rights in this invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Eukaryotic cells have evolved complex mechanisms to deal with environmental stresses. Signal transduction pathways are rapidly activated following exposure to DNA damaging agents and other cellular stresses, and these pathways affect processes such as gene transcription and cell cycle progression (Hartwell and Weinert (1989) Science 246:629-634; Hartwell and Kastan (1994) Science 266:1821-1828; Elledge (1996) Science 274:1664-1672). The protein encoded by the Ataxia-telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) locus, is a kinase critical for the initiation of signaling pathways following exposure of mammalian cells to ionizing radiation (IR) and to other agents that introduce double-strand breaks into cellular DNA (Kastan and Lim (2000) Mol. Cell Biol. 1:179-186; Shiloh and Kastan (2001) Adv. Cancer Res. 83:209-254). Cells from Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) patients typically lack detectable ATM protein, contain abnormalities in telomere morphology, and exhibit abnormal responses to IR, including increased cell death, increased chromosomal breakage, and cell cycle checkpoint defects (Shiloh (1997) Ann. Rev. Genet. 31:635-662). In addition, A-T patients exhibit progressive cerebellar ataxia, immune deficiencies, gonadal atrophy, oculocutaneous telangiectasias, radiation sensitivity, premature aging and increased risk of cancers, particularly lymphomas.

The ATM gene encodes a 370-kDa protein (Accession No. Q13315; SEQ ID NO:1) that belongs to the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI-3K) superfamily (Savitsky, et al. (1995) Science 268:1749-1753) which phosphorylates proteins rather than lipids (Banin, et al. (1998) Science 281:1674-1677; Canman, et al. (1998) Science 281:1677-1679). The 350 amino acid kinase domain at the C-terminus of this protein is the only segment of ATM with an assigned function. Exposure of cells to IR triggers ATM kinase activity and this function is required for arrests in G1, S, and G2 phases of the cell cycle (Shiloh and Kastan (2001) Adv. Cancer Res. 83:209-254). Several substrates of the ATM kinase participate in these IR-induced cell cycle arrests. For example, phosphorylation of p53, mdm2, and Chk2 govern the G1 checkpoint (Banin, et al. (1998) Science 281:1674-1677; Canman, et al. (1998) Science 281:1677-1679; Maya, et al. (2001) Genes Dev. 15:1067-1077; Matsuoka, et al. (2000) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97:10389-10394; Chehab, et al. (2000) Genes Dev. 14:278-288); Nbsl, Brcal,. FancD2, and SMC1 participate in the transient IR-induced S-phase arrest (Lim, et al. (2000) Nature 404:613-617; Wu, et al. (2000) Nature 405:477-482; Zhou, et al. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275:10342-10348; Taniguchi, et al. (2002) Cell 109:459-472; Kim, et al. (2002) Genes Dev. 16:560-570; Yazdi, et al. (2002) Genes Dev. 16:571-582; Xu, et al. (2002) Cancer Res. 62:4588-4591); and Brcal and hRad17 have been implicated in the G2/M checkpoint (Xu, et al. (2001) Mol. Cell. Biol. 21:3445-3450; Bao, et al. (2001) Nature 411:969-974).

The mechanisms by which eukaryotic cells sense DNA strand breaks is unknown, but the rapid induction of ATM kinase activity following IR indicates that it acts at an early stage of signal transduction in mammalian cells (Banin, et al. (1998) Science 281:1674-1677; Camnan, et al. (1998) Science 281:1677-1679). Transfected ATM is a phosphoprotein that incorporates more phosphate after IR treatment of cells (Lim, et al. (2000) Nature 404:613-617), suggesting that ATM kinase is itself activated by post-translational modification.

Inhibiting ATM for the treatment of neoplasms, particularly cancers associated with decreased p53 function, has been suggested (Morgan, et al. (1997) Mol. Cell Biol. 17:2020-2029; Hartwell and Kastan (1994) Science 266:1821-1828; Kastan (1995) New Eng. J. Med. 333:662-663; WO 98/56391). WO 98/56391 further provides genetically manipulated knock-out mice as a model for testing ATM inhibitors and suggests the use of an inhibitory antibody to ATM, a dominant-negative fragment of ATM or an ATM antisense strategy to inhibit ATM.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,640 discloses the use of an ATM kinase substrate recognition sequence in an assay system to screen for compounds that modulate ATM-mediated phosphorylation. The substrate recognition sequence provided comprises Xaa₁-Xaa-Xaa₂-Ser-Gln-Xaa-Xaa (SEQ ID NO:2) wherein Xaa₁ is a hydrophobic amino acid, Xaa₂ is a hydrophobic amino acid or aspartic acid, and Xaa is any amino acid.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,348,311 further discloses a method of identifying an inhibitor of ATM-mediated kinase activity by determining the extent of cell survival after HTLV infection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention provides a method of identifying the activation state of ATM kinase. In a cell, inactive ATM kinase is found as a homodimer or higher order multimer. Upon autophosphorylation of a serine corresponding to residue 1981 of ATM kinase (SEQ ID NO:1), ATM becomes an active monomer. Accordingly, the method provides determining the phosphorylation state of serine 1981 (Ser¹⁹⁸¹) which is indicative of the activation state of ATM kinase. In a preferred embodiment, monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies which specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ are used to determine the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase by immunoassay analysis.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of detecting DNA damage in a sample comprising identifying the activation state of ATM kinase via the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹. The method may be used to monitor the effectiveness of radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of detecting DNA damaging agents in a biological or environmental sample comprising identifying the activation state of ATM kinase via the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹. A kit for detecting a DNA damaging agent is also provided.

A further aspect of the invention provides a method of producing soluble ATM kinase by contacting a first polypeptide of ATM kinase containing the kinase domain with a second polypeptide of ATM kinase containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹. The first and second polypeptides may be produced separately or as a single polypeptide in the same cell.

A further aspect of the invention provides a cell-based assay for identifying agents which modulate the activation of ATM kinase. The method provides contacting cells containing ATM kinase with an agent and determining whether said agent agonizes or antagonizes the activation of ATM, kinase in the cell. The activation state of ATM kinase is identified via the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹.

A further aspect of the invention provides a cell-free assay for identifying agents which modulate ATM kinase activity. The method provides contacting soluble ATM kinase protein with an agent and ATP and determining whether said agent agonizes or antagonizes the ATM kinase activity.

These and other aspects of the present invention are set forth in more detail in the following description of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It has now been found that the major site of ATM kinase phosphorylation is located at serine residue 1981 (Ser¹⁹⁸¹) of ATM kinase (SEQ ID NO:1), also referred to herein as ATM. Phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ results from intermolecular autophosphorylation. The phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ does not directly regulate the activity of the kinase, but instead disrupts ATM kinase oligomers which in turn allows accessibility of substrates to the ATM kinase domain. The rapidity and stoichiometry of the phosphorylation reaction indicate that ATM is not activated by binding directly to DNA strand breaks. While not wishing to be bound by any particular theory, it is believed that DNA damage rapidly causes changes in higher order chromatin structures that initiate this activation.

Not to be held to any one particular mechanism of action, it is believed that in the unperturbed cell, ATM is sequestered as a dimer or higher order multimer with its kinase domain bound to an internal domain of a neighboring ATM molecule containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹. In this complex, ATM is unable to phosphorylate other cellular substrates. Following DNA damage, the kinase domain of one ATM molecule phosphorylates Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of an interacting ATM molecule, and the phosphorylated ATM is then dissociated from the complex and is freed to phosphorylate other substrates in the cell. The kinase dead and non-phosphorylatable mutants of ATM retain endogenous ATM in a complex since they cannot be phosphorylated and released after IR, thus inhibiting cellular ATM activity. This mechanism provides an explanation for the dominant inhibitory property of kinase-inactive ATM.

Several different molecular mechanisms have been identified that regulate the activity of protein kinases. Protein kinases are generally restrained in an inactive state with the acquisition of catalytic activity controlled at multiple levels, ranging from the binding of allosteric factors to changes in the subcellular localization of the enzyme (Huse and Kuriyan (2002) Cell 109:275-282). Since all protein kinases catalyze the same reaction, their active conformations tend to be structurally similar. However, different classes of kinases have evolved distinct inactive states and adoption of the catalytic conformation of the enzyme can be impeded in different ways. These include steric hindrance of substrate access to the catalytic domain by an activation loop that is often controlled by phosphorylation (Johnson and Noble (1996) Cell 85:149-158); allosteric regulation of the activation loop via, for example, the PSTAIRE helix in the cyclin dependent kinase family (De Bondt, et al. (1993) Nature 363:595-602; pseudosubstrate inhibition of both substrate and nucleotide binding as seen in twitchin (Hu, et al. (1994) Nature 369:581-584); and intramolecular autoinhibition by N-terminal segments that inhibit catalytic activity, as in the case of the EphB2 receptor kinase (Dodelet, and Pasquale (2000) Oncogene 19:56145619). The results provided herein indicate a novel mechanism of kinase activation in which the cellular activity of one ATM kinase molecule is impeded by intermolecular association with an internal domain of a partner ATM molecule; access of substrates to the catalytic domain is impeded by this association. This type of regulation is similar to pseudosubstrate inhibition, with the major variations being that the pseudosubstrate is a domain of itself (albeit in trans) and that this partner is not a mimic, but actually becomes a substrate in order to release the inhibition.

Accordingly, the present invention provides compositions and methods for identifying the activation state of ATM kinase by determining the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase. The activation of ATM kinase is indicative of DNA damage; thus, the invention further provides methods for detecting DNA damage and DNA damaging agents. Further provided is a method for producing soluble ATM kinase by combining a first polypeptide of ATM kinase containing the kinase domain with a second polypeptide of ATM kinase containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹. Methods of identifying agents which modulate activation of ATM kinase in a cell and ATM kinase activity are also provided.

One aspect of the invention provides a method of identifying the activation state of ATM kinase in a cell. In an unperturbed cell (i.e., a cell in which no DNA damage has occurred), ATM kinase is found in a dimer or multimer which is the inactivate state wherein ATM is unable to phosphorylate other cellular substrates. Upon DNA damage, ATM autophosphorylates Ser¹⁹⁸¹ and is converted into a monomer which is the active state wherein ATM is able to phosphorylate other cellular substrates. Therefore, in a cell, the active and inactive states (i.e., activation states) of ATM kinase are distinguishable by the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase (SEQ ID NO:1). As one of skill in the art can appreciate, the activation state of any homolog or mutant of ATM kinase may be identified by determining the phosphorylation state of a serine corresponding to residue 1981 of ATM kinase. The location of the critical serine residue corresponding to Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase can readily be determined by comparing the sequence of ATM kinase (SEQ ID NO:1) with the sequence of homologs or mutants of ATM kinase.

In general, the method of identifying the activation state of ATM kinase comprises obtaining a sample such as a biopsy sample, tissue, cell or fluid (e.g., whole blood or plasma) isolated from a subject and determining the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase in the sample. Kinase inhibitors may be present during the isolation of ATM kinase to preserve the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ as it would have been found in the cell prior to the isolation step. It is contemplated that the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM may be determined using a variety of separation and/or detection methods, including those exemplified herein. For example, [³²p] phosphorylated ATM is digested with trypsin and separated by well-known conventional column chromatography, 2-D gel electrophoresis, or capillary electrophoresis methodologies. For separation by column chromatography, reverse-phase HPLC may be employed with collection via peak detection. Under the conditions used for reverse-phase HPLC (0.05% TFA, pH 2.2), a phosphorylated peptide generally elutes slightly earlier than the corresponding non-phosphorylated peptide and may or may not be separated from it. Once HPLC fractions containing the Ser¹⁹⁸¹ phosphorylated peptide are located by Cerenkov counting, a small aliquot of each may be analyzed by MALDI-MS.

As an alternative to radiolabeling, western blots made from 2-D gels may be probed using anti-phosphoserine antibodies (Research Diagnostics, Inc., Flanders, N.J.) to recognize the degree of phosphorylation of a peptide fragment containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹.

Alternatively, one may use a phosphoprotein purification kit (QIAGEN®, Valencia, Calif.) for separation of the phosphorylated from the unphosphorylated cellular protein fraction. The affinity chromatography procedure, in which phosphorylated proteins are bound to a column while unphosphorylated proteins are recovered in the flow-through fraction, reduces complexity and greatly facilitates phosphorylation-profile studies. ATM may then be purified from each fraction and the degree of phosphorylation of a peptide fragment containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹ determined via autoradiography or immunoassays.

In a preferred embodiment, the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase is detected using antibodies which specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase (SEQ ID NO:1). Such antibodies may be utilized with or without purification, fragmentation, or fractionation or ATM. An antibody which specifically recognizes the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase (SEQ ID NO: 1) comprises polyclonal antibody α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹, which specifically recognizes unphosphorylated Ser¹⁹⁸¹; and polyclonal antibody α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P and monoclonal antibodies 7C10, 12E10, 13C5, 13H4, 2H12, 7A4, 9D8 and 10H11, which specifically recognize phosphorylated Ser¹⁹⁸¹. An antibody is said to specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ if it is able to discriminate between the unphosphorylated and phosphorylated forms of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ and bind ATM to form an ATM kinase-antibody complex, i.e., antigen-antibody complex. For example, an antibody which specifically recognizes the unphosphorylated state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ will only bind to an ATM kinase with an unphosphorylated Ser¹⁹⁸¹ and not to an ATM kinase with a phosphorylated Ser¹⁹⁸¹ (e.g., α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹). Likewise, an antibody which specifically recognizes the phosphorylated state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ will only bind to an ATM kinase with a phosphorylated Ser¹⁹⁸¹ and not to an ATM kinase with an unphosphorylated Ser¹⁹⁸¹ (e.g., α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P, 7C10, 12E10, 13C5, 13H4, 2H12, 7A4, 9D8, 10H11).

In general, a method of using antibodies which specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ in the identification of the activation state of ATM kinase provides contacting a sample with said antibody and detecting the formation of an antigen-antibody complex using an immunoassay. The ATM kinase antigen, as used herein, includes both the phosphorylated and unphosphorylated states of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ however, the phosphorylated state is preferred. The conditions and time required to form the antigen-antibody complex may vary and are dependent on the sample being tested and the method of detection being used. Once non-specific interactions are removed by, for example, washing the sample, the antigen-antibody complex is detected using any one of the well-known immunoassays used to detect and/or quantitate antigens. Exemplary immunoassays which may be used in the methods of the invention include, but are not limited to enzyme-linked immunosorbent, immunodiffusion, chemiluminescent, immunofluorescent, immunohistochemical, radioimmunoassay, agglutination, complement fixation, immunoelectrophoresis, western blots, mass spectrometry, antibody array, and immunoprecipitation assays and the like which may be performed in vitro, in vivo or in situ. Such standard techniques are well-known to those of skill in the art (see, e.g., “Methods in Immunodiagnosis”, 2nd Edition, Rose and Bigazzi, eds. John Wiley & Sons, 1980; Campbell et al., “Methods and Immunology”, W. A. Benjamin, Inc., 1964; and Oellerich, M. (1984) J. Clin. Chem. Clin. Biochem. 22:895-904; Harlow and Lane, Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York (1988) 555-612).

These immunoassays typically rely on labeled antigens, antibodies, or secondary reagents for detection. These proteins may be labeled with radioactive compounds, enzymes, biotin, or fluorochromes. Of these, radioactive labeling may be used for almost all types of assays. Enzyme-conjugated labels are particularly useful when radioactivity must be avoided or when quick results are needed. Biotin-coupled reagents usually are detected with labeled streptavidin. Streptavidin binds tightly and quickly to biotin and may be labeled with radioisotopes or enzymes. Fluorochromes, although requiring expensive equipment for their use, provide a very sensitive method of detection. Those of ordinary skill in the art will know of other suitable labels which may be employed in accordance with the present invention. The binding of these labels to antibodies or fragments thereof may be accomplished using standard techniques (see, for example, Kennedy, et al. (1976) Clin. Chim. Acta 70:1-31 and Schurs, et al. (1977) Clin. Chim Acta 81:1-40).

In accordance with identifying the activation state of ATM kinase, the presence or absence of the antigen-antibody complex is correlated with active or inactive ATM kinase in a sample, respectively. For example, a sample to which, α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P binds is indicative of the presence of active ATM kinase in said sample.

As provided herein, monoclonal and rabbit polyclonal antibodies that specifically recognize Ser¹⁹⁸¹ only when it is in either the unphosphorylated (α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹) or phosphorylated (α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P, 7C10, 12E10, 13C5, 13H4, 2H12, 7A4, 9D8, 10H11) state were generated. Initial specificity of these antibodies for appropriate peptides was demonstrated by ELISA and by specific recognition and blocking on dot blots. The specificity of the antibodies were confirmed on western blots of immunoprecipitated FLAG®-tagged ATM protein where wild-type and kinase-inactive ATM were recognized by both antisera, but ATM protein with Ser¹⁹⁸¹ mutated to alanine (Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala) was not recognized by either antisera. The relative amount of wild-type ATM recognized by the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹ antisera was reduced several-fold within 30 minutes after exposure of the cells to 10 Gy IR, whereas the relative amount of kinase-inactive ATM that was recognized remained the same. Conversely, the relative amount of wild-type ATM recognized by the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antisera was increased several-fold 30 minutes after treatment with 10 Gy IR while recognition of kinase-inactive ATM was unaffected. These results mirror the metabolic labeling results using transfected wild-type ATM and kinase-inactive ATM in 293T cells described above.

Upon exposure to IR and UV, endogenous ATM is phosphorylated at Ser¹⁹⁸¹. Non-transformed, exponentially growing primary human fibroblasts were exposed to either 10 Gy IR or 10 J/m² UV. The α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antisera did not bind to ATM protein immunoprecipitated from unirradiated cells, but recognized ATM one hour following exposure to IR and five hours following exposure to both IR and UV. The relative amount of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ phosphorylation seen five hours following IR treatment was several-fold higher than that seen following UV. This differential recognition was not due to changes in cell cycle distribution which did not change significantly in the first hour after IR. Moreover, primary fibroblasts arrested in G₀ also demonstrate this phosphorylation event following exposure to either IR or UV irradiation.

Antibodies provided in the present disclosure are of the monoclonal and polyclonal type. It is contemplated that such antibodies may be natural or partially or wholly synthetically produced. All fragments or derivatives thereof which maintain the ability to specifically bind to and recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase are also contemplated. The antibodies may be a member of any immunoglobulin class, including any of the classes: IgG, IgM, IgA, IgD, and IgE. Derivatives of the IgG class, however, are preferred in the present invention.

ATM kinase antibody fragments may be any derivative of an antibody which is less than full-length. Preferably, the antibody fragment retains at least a significant portion of the full-length antibody's specific binding ability. Examples of antibody fragments include, but are not limited to, Fab, Fab′, F(ab′)2, scFv, Fv, dsFv diabody, or Fd fragments. The antibody fragment may be produced by any means. For instance, the antibody fragment may be enzymatically or chemically produced by fragmentation of an intact antibody or it may be recombinantly produced from a gene encoding the partial antibody sequence. The antibody fragment may optionally be a single-chain antibody fragment. Alternatively, the fragment may comprise multiple chains which are linked together, for instance, by disulfide linkages. The fragment may also optionally be a multi-molecular complex. A functional antibody fragment will typically comprise at least about 50 amino acids and more typically will comprise at least about 200 amino acids. As used herein, an antibody also includes bispecific and chimeric antibodies.

Naturally produced antibodies may be generated using well-known methods (see, e.g., Kohler and Milstein (1975) Nature 256:495-497; Harlow and Lane, In: Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York (1988)). Alternatively, ATM kinase antibodies which specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase are derived by a phage display method. Methods of producing phage display antibodies are well-known in the art (e.g., Huse, et al. (1989) Science 246(4935):1275-81).

Selection of ATM kinase-specific antibodies is based on binding affinity to ATM kinase which is either phosphorylated or unphosphorylated at Ser¹⁹⁸¹ and may be determined by the various well-known immunoassays indicated above.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of detecting DNA damage in a cell by identifying the activation state of ATM kinase. It has now been shown that DNA damaging agents which introduce breaks in the phosphodiester backbone of DNA induce rapid, detectable phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ and hence activation of ATM kinase. Ser¹⁹⁸¹ phosphorylation was examined in exponentially growing primary fibroblasts one and five hours after treatment with IR, thymidine block, the ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor hydroxyurea (HU), the topoisomerase inhibitors camptothecin and etoposide, the DNA alkylating agent methlymethanesulfonate (MMS), the DNA polymerase a inhibitor aphidicolin, or the oxidizing agent H₂O₂. Phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ in ATM was detected one hour following exposure to 10 Gy IR, 2 nM camptothecin, 17 nM etoposide or 0.1% H₂O₂, all of which are DNA damaging agents. The only significant change in this pattern five hours after each of these treatments was more prominent phosphorylation following exposure to the alkylating agent, MMS. The delayed Ser¹⁹⁸¹ phosphorylation after MMS was similar to that observed following UV irradiation, an agent which, like MMS, damages DNA bases, but can induce DNA strand breaks either through repair processes or by DNA replication past DNA adducts. Little or no phosphorylation of ATM was apparent over this time frame following exposure to the DNA synthesis inhibitors hydroxyurea, thymidine, or aphidicolin, none of which directly damage DNA. Thus, all agents tested that directly damage DNA by, for example, inducing DNA strand breaks, induced rapid phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹, whereas treatments that primarily inhibit DNA synthesis failed to do so.

The kinetics, dose responsiveness and stoichiometry of ATM autophosphorylation following IR were also examined in primary fibroblasts. Over a 24-hour time frame, phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ was maximal by 15 minutes after exposure to 2 Gy IR and remained stable and detectable for at least 24 hours thereafter. Moreover, phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ was detected immediately upon cellular harvesting following the 30 second exposure required to deliver 0.5 Gy IR and was maximal by five minutes. Initial dose responsiveness was evaluated over a range from 1 to 9 Gy, but induction was already maximal at 1 Gy at the 30 minute time point used. A more detailed evaluation of doses less than 1 Gy provided that phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ was detectable following 0.11 Gy and was already maximal following 0.44 Gy at a 15 minute time point.

As the phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ in ATM can be detected following exposure to doses of IR as low as 0.11 Gy, which theoretically should cause just four double-strand breaks in the genomic DNA of a human diploid cell (Rogakou, et al. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273:5858-5868)., the minimal number of DNA double-strand breaks that would induce detectable ATM phosphorylation was determined. SV-40-transformed fibroblasts were obtained that had been stably transfected with a plasmid containing a sequence that can be cut by the restriction enzyme I-SceI, a site which has not been found in any mammalian genome (Richardson, et al. (1999) Methods Mol. Biol. 113:453-463). Southern blotting demonstrated that the genome of this cell line contained two copies of the I-SceI site. The α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antibody was able to detect Ser¹⁹⁸¹ phosphorylation of FLAG®-tagged, wild-type ATM that was co-transfected with I-SceI. No phosphorylation was seen in control transfectants where no active I-SceI was introduced or when either kinase-inactive ATM or ATM mutated at Ser¹⁹⁸¹ was utilized. Therefore, the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antibody can detect the introduction of as few as two DNA double-strand breaks in cells.

To estimate the fraction of cellular ATM protein that becomes phosphorylated after DNA damage, sequential immunoprecipitations of ATM from irradiated primary fibroblasts were performed with a conventional anti-ATM antibody and with the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antisera. In the absence of insult, the conventional anti-ATM antibody was able to immunoprecipitate virtually all of the ATM in the first absorption from unirradiated cells, while the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antisera brought down almost no ATM. The little ATM that was immunoprecipitated by the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antisera was not recognized by this antibody on western blots, likely due to a very small amount of non-phospho-specific antisera in the polyclonal antibody preparation. Following exposure to 0.5 Gy IR, the amount of ATM immunoprecipitated by the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antisera in the first absorption was similar to the amount of ATM immunoprecipitated by the conventional anti-ATM antibody and was greater than the remaining cellular ATM that was brought down in the second absorption by the conventional anti-ATM antibody. Since the conventional anti-ATM antibody was not completely efficient in bringing down all of the cellular ATM with a single immunoprecipitation from the irradiated cells it was estimated that at least 50% of the total ATM in an exponentially growing culture of primary human fibroblasts is autophosphorylated on Ser¹⁹⁸¹ by 15 minutes after exposure to 0.5 Gy IR (estimated 18 DNA breaks).

Since such a high fraction of cellular ATM becomes phosphorylated so rapidly in the presence of so few DNA strand breaks, it is unlikely that the ATM oligomers could require direct binding to DNA strand breaks for activation and autophosphorylation. Therefore, the introduction of DNA strand breaks may cause a change in the nucleus that activates ATM at a distance from the break itself. As DNA strand breaks introduced by ionizing irradiation rapidly alter topological constraints on DNA (Roti Roti and Wright (1987) Cytometry 8:461-467; Jaberaboansari, et al. (1988) Radiat. Res. 114:94-104; Malyapa, et al. (1996) Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 35:963-973),alterations in some aspect of chromatin structure fit the criteria of being a rapid change and being able to act a distance in the nucleus. Chromatin and chromosome structures can be altered in the absence of DNA breaks by hypotonic conditions (Earnshaw, and Laemmli (1983) J. Cell Biol. 96:84-93; Jeppesen, et al. (1992) Chromosoma 101:322-332), exposure to chloroquine (Krajewski (1995) FEBS Letters 361:149-152; Jensen, et al. (1994) Cancer Res. 54:2959-2963; Snyder (2000) Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 35:13-21), or treatment with histone deaceylase inhibitors (Krajewski (1999) J. Biomol. Struct. Dynam. 16:1097-1106; Yoshida, et al. (1995) BioEssays 17:423-430; Kuo and Allis (1998) BioEssays 20:615-626). Exposure of cells to mildly hypotonic buffers, chloroquine or Trichostatin induced rapid and diffuse phosphorylation of ATM protein as assessed by immunoblot and immunofluorescence. No phosphorylation of histone H2AXγ was observed, therefore there was no evidence for the introduction of DNA strand breaks with these treatments. Interestingly, these chromatin-modifying treatments induced phosphorylation of p53, whose phosphorylation by ATM does not occur at the site of DNA breaks. In contrast, phosphorylation of both ATM and H2AXγ were apparent following IR, whether it was used alone or in combination with other treatments. Additionally, all three of these agents were able to enhance the amount of ATM phosphorylation seen after exposure of cells to sub-maximal (0.2 Gy) doses of IR. The patterns of immunofluorescent staining for ATM following that at the earliest time points, the staining was diffuse across the nucleus, but after several minutes, some foci were seen in addition to the diffuse nuclear staining. This pattern is consistent with a diffuse activation of ATM and migration of a fraction of ATM protein to the sites of DNA strand breaks to phosphorylate substrates at the breaks. Diffuse immunofluorescence, but no ATM foci, was seen when staining the cells with the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹ antibody.

Accordingly, in another preferred embodiment DNA damage in a sample is detected by identifying the activation state of ATM kinase. The method provides obtaining a sample from a subject and determining the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase. The phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase may be determined using any one of the techniques provided herein, however, it is preferred that antibodies which specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase be used. A sample containing a phosphorylated Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase, as determined by, for example, the binding of α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antibody, is indicative of active ATM kinase and hence DNA damage in the subject from which the sample was obtained. Accordingly, a method of detecting DNA damage may be used as part of a screen in subjects suspected of having been exposed to a DNA damaging agent. Moreover, the detection method of the invention may be used alone or in combination with other well-known diagnostic methods to confirm DNA damage.

Damage to DNA may have a genetic- or age-related basis or may result from exposure to agents including those which generate DNA adducts by alkylation (e.g., methylmethane sulfonate (MMS), ethylmethane sulfonate (EMS), N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanine (MNNG), dimethylnitrosamine (DMN), dimethyl sulfate), and form intra- and inter-strand crosslinks (e.g., mitomycin C, psoralens). Furthermore, exposure to base analogs, such as bromouracil and aminopurine; nitrous acid; large molecules which bind to bases in DNA and cause them to be noncoding, i.e., “bulky” lesions; chemicals causing DNA strand breaks (e. g., peroxides); and radiation such as ultraviolet and ionizing radiation (e.g., X- and gamma-rays) also result in DNA damage.

Detection of DNA damage in a cell as determined by the activation state of ATM kinase is also useful for monitoring therapeutic effects during clinical trials and other treatment. Thus, the therapeutic effectiveness of an agent, such as a radionucleide for radiation therapy or a cytotoxic agent for chemotherapy designed to cause DNA damage in a cell, can be monitored using the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase, i.e., active ATM kinase, as an end-point target.

A further aspect of the invention provides a method of detecting a DNA damaging agent in a sample. A sample may be either of biological or environmental origin. Biological samples include those provided above as well as food products and ingredients such as dairy items, vegetables, meat and meat by-products, and waste. Environmental samples include environmental material such as surface matter, soil, water, wastewater, sewage, sludge, industrial samples (e.g., industrial water), as well as samples obtained from food and dairy processing instruments, apparatus, equipment, disposable and non-disposable items. In addition to these environmental samples, it is contemplated that drinking water may be used with the method of the present invention. It is intended that the term drinking water encompass all types of water used for consumption by humans and other animals, including but not limited to well water, run-off water, water stored in reservoirs, rivers, streams, etc. The method provides contacting a test cell, which can be of prokaryotic or eukaryotic origin, containing ATM kinase, with a sample suspected of having a DNA damaging agent, allowing the test cell to incubate in the presence of the sample, and detecting whether DNA damage has occurred in the test cell by identifying the activation state of ATM kinase in said cell. Methods for identifying the activation state of ATM kinase in a cell are provided herein. In a preferred embodiment, active ATM kinase, in a cell exposed to a DNA damaging agent, is identified by determining the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ using antibodies which specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase.

A further aspect of the invention provides a kit to detect a DNA damaging agent in a sample. The kit comprises antibodies which specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase and are preferably labeled. The kit may further comprise a test cell containing ATM kinase. Further provided in the kit may be a means for determining the antigen-antibody complex using, for example, an immunoassay, and means for comparing the amount of antigen-antibody complex with a standard. The kit may be packaged in a suitable container and further comprise instructions for using the kit to detect DNA damaging agents.

A further aspect of the invention provides a method of producing soluble ATM kinase by contacting the kinase domain of ATM with a fragment of ATM kinase containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹ The domain of ATM containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹ was found to stably interact with the kinase domain of ATM. A GST fusion protein containing residues 1961-2046 of ATM (GST-ATM¹⁹⁶¹⁻²⁰⁴⁶) was co-expressed in E. coli with a 6x-Histidine (6x-His) fusion protein containing the C-terminal kinase domain of ATM, residues 2712-3056. Although the kinase domain was insoluble in bacteria when co-transfected with GST alone or a GST fusion with the ATM target peptide p53 (residues 1-101), a significant percentage was stabilized and solubilized in the presence of the GST-ATM¹⁹⁶¹⁻²⁰⁴⁶ fusion protein. The kinase domain was also solubilized in the presence of the GST-ATM¹⁹⁶¹⁻²⁰⁴⁶ fusion protein containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala, but remained insoluble in the presence of phosphorylation-mimic fusion peptides, Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Asp and Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Glu. Furthermore, the soluble kinase domain co-purified on glutathione-agarose with the GST-ATM¹⁹⁶¹⁻²⁰⁴⁶ fusion proteins containing wild-type sequence or Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala. These results indicate that the kinase domain and phosphorylation domain can stably bind to one another and that sequences flanking Ser¹⁹⁸¹ are critical for this interaction. The interaction was prevented by mutation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ to either aspartic acid (Asp) or glutamic acid (Glu), both of which have charged side chains that mimic serine phosphorylation, indicating that phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ may prevent interaction of this domain with the kinase domain.

Diploid human fibroblasts were exposed to a range of formaldehyde concentrations to covalently crosslink endogenous ATM into a minimal complex. A prominent complex containing ATM was immunoprecipitated from cells following treatment of cells with 0.5 mM or 1.0 mM formaldehyde for 10 minutes. This complex migrated electrophoretically considerably slower than the denatured ATM monomer, which runs at 370-kDa, and beyond the range of conventional molecular weight markers. Furthermore, this ATM-containing complex disappeared after exposure of the cells to 10 Gy IR and was not recognized by the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antibody.

The number of ATM molecules present in the complex as well as the dependence of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ phosphorylation on the dissociation of the complex was determined. Hemagglutinin-tagged (HA-tagged) ATM was transfected into 293T cells along with wild-type, kinase-inactive, or Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala FLAG®-tagged ATM. In the absence of formaldehyde crosslinking, HA-tagged ATM was immunoprecipitated by anti-FLAG® Sepharose in association with each of the three FLAG®-tagged ATM proteins. Following 2 Gy IR, HA-tagged ATM was immunoprecipitated with both kinase-inactive and Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala FLAG®-tagged ATM, but was no longer bound to wild-type FLAG®-tagged ATM. In the absence of irradiation, the relative amounts of kinase-inactive and Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala FLAG®-tagged ATM that co-immunoprecipitated with HA-tagged ATM were lower than that of wild-type FLAG®-tagged ATM. This indicated that the association of wild-type, FLAG®-tagged ATM with wild-type, HA-tagged ATM was more stable than that of the mutant, FLAG®-tagged ATMs with HA-tagged ATM. Therefore, ATM exists as a dimer or higher order multimer in unperturbed cells and that intermolecular ATM autophosphorylation on Ser¹⁹⁸¹ is required for the dissociation of the complex following DNA damage.

As the ATM kinase domain interacts stably with the domain containing the autophosphorylation site, it was determined whether a truncated recombinant ATM molecule that included the phosphorylation and kinase domains would fold properly and have kinase activity. A galactose-inducible pYES plasmid containing 6x-His-FLAG®-tagged ATM¹⁹²³⁻³⁰⁵⁶ was transfected into Saccharomyces cerevisiae and a soluble ATM fragment was recovered. The polypeptide was purified by anti-FLAG® affinity chromatography. Following elution with synthetic FLAG® peptide and subsequent size-exclusion chromatography, the highly purified ATM fragment had kinase activity, exhibited wortmannin-sensitive phosphorylation of a p53 target peptide and autophosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹. Some of this ATM fragment migrated at the size of a dimer even under the harsh denaturing conditions of the SDS-PAGE gel indicating that the ATM protein homodimerizes in cells.

Accordingly, in another embodiment of the invention, soluble ATM kinase is produced by contacting a first polypeptide comprising the kinase domain of ATM with a second polypeptide comprising a fragment of ATM kinase containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹. The first and second polypeptide may be produced separately or produced as a single polypeptide. When produced separately, the first polypeptide containing the kinase domain may comprise the entire ATM kinase (i.e., full-length ATM kinase; residues 1-3056 of SEQ ID NO:1) or a kinase domain fragment which retains the activity of ATM kinase (e.g., residues 2712-3056 of SEQ ID NO:1). Furthermore, the second polypeptide containing Ser¹⁹⁸¹ may comprise a polypeptide of 50, 75, 85, or 95 amino acid residues with Ser¹⁹⁸¹ located approximately in the center of the polypeptide. An exemplary second polypeptide. comprises residues 1961-2046 of SEQ ID NO:1. When produced as a single polypeptide, the nucleic acid sequences encoding the first and second polypeptide reside on a single contiguous nucleic acid molecule, i.e., translated from one messenger RNA. A single polypeptide may comprise, for example, residues 1923-3056 or 1961-3056 of SEQ ID NO:1. Alternatively, the single polypeptide may have the first and second polypeptide separated by a linker peptide ranging from 1 to 1000 amino acid residues (e.g., Gly-Ser-Gly, (Gly)₃, and the like).

When produced separately, the first and second polypeptide may be expressed from the same or separate expression vectors, from the same or different promoters, in the same or separate cells and combined for purification. Preferably the first and second polypeptide are expressed in the same cell.

Whether produced as a single polypeptide or as separate first and second polypeptides, the soluble ATM kinase will be referred to hereinafter as the ATM kinase polypeptide or simply ATM kinase in the context of producing soluble-ATM kinase. Methods of producing ATM kinase in vivo (i.e., cell-based) are provided, however, as will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, ATM kinase may be produced using well-known in vitro transcription and translation methods.

Nucleic acids encoding ATM kinase may be incorporated into a recombinant expression vector in a form suitable for expression of the proteins in a host cell. A suitable form for expression provides that the recombinant expression vector includes one or more regulatory sequences operatively-linked to the nucleic acids encoding ATM kinase in a manner which allows for transcription of the nucleic acids into mRNA and translation of the mRNA into the protein. Regulatory sequences may include promoters, enhancers and other expression control elements (e.g., polyadenylation signals). Such regulatory sequences are known to those skilled in the art and are described in Goeddel, Gene Expression Technology: Methods in Enzymology 185, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. (1990). It should be understood that the design of the expression vector may depend on such factors as the choice of the host cell to be transfected and/or the level of expression required.

The soluble ATM kinase of the invention may be expressed not only directly, but also as a fusion protein with a heterologous polypeptide, i.e. a signal sequence for secretion and/or other polypeptide which will aid in the purification of ATM kinase. Preferably, the heterologous polypeptide has a specific cleavage site to remove the heterologous polypeptide from ATM kinase.

In general, a signal sequence may be a component of the vector and should be one that is recognized and processed (i.e., cleaved by a signal peptidase) by the host cell. For production in a prokaryote, a prokaryotic signal sequence from, for example, alkaline phosphatase, penicillinase, lpp, or heat-stable enterotoxin II leaders may be used. For yeast secretion, one may use, e.g., the yeast invertase, alpha factor, or acid phosphatase leaders, the Candida albicans glucoamylase leader (EP 362,179), or the like (see, for example WO 90/13646). In mammalian cell expression, signal sequences from secreted polypeptides of the same or related species, as well as viral secretory leaders, for example, the herpes simplex glycoprotein D signal may be used.

Other useful heterologous polypeptides which may be fused to ATM kinase include those which increase expression or solubility of the fusion protein or aid in the purification of the fusion protein by acting as a ligand in affinity purification. Typical fusion expression vectors include those exemplified herein as well as pGEX (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden; Smith, and Johnson (1988) Gene 67:31-40), pMAL (New England Biolabs, Beverly, Mass.) and pRIT5 (Pharmacia, Piscataway, N.J.) which fuse GST, maltose E binding protein, or protein A, respectively, to the target recombinant protein.

Eukaryotic microbes such as yeast may be transformed with suitable vectors containing nucleic acids encoding ATM kinase. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most commonly studied lower eukaryotic host microorganism, although a number of other species are commonly available. Yeast vectors may contain an origin of replication from the 2 micron yeast plasmid or an autonomously replicating sequence (ARS), a promoter, nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase, sequences for polyadenylation and transcription termination, and nucleic acid sequences encoding a selectable marker. Exemplary plasmids include YRp7 (Stinchcomb, et al. (1979) Nature 282:39; Kingsman, et al. (1979) Gene 7:141; Tschemper, et al. (1980) Gene 10:157), pYepSec1 (Baldari, et al. (1987) EMBO J. 6:229-234), pMFa (Kurjan and Herskowitz (1982) Cell 30:933-943), pJRY88 (Schultz, et al. (1987) Gene 54:113-123), and pYES2 (INVITROGEN™ Corporation, San Diego, Calif.). These plasmids contain genes such as trp1, which provides a selectable marker for a mutant strain of yeast lacking the ability to grow in the presence of tryptophan, for example ATCC No. 44076 or PEP4-1 (Jones (1977) Genetics 85:12). The presence of the trp1 lesion in the yeast host cell genome then provides an effective environment for detecting transformation by growth in the absence of tryptophan.

Suitable sequences for promoting ATM kinase expression in yeast vectors include the promoters for metallothionein, 3-phosphoglycerate kinase (Hitzeman, et al. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255:2073) or other glycolytic enzymes (Hess, et al. (1968) J. Adv. Enzyme Reg. 7:149; Holland, et al. (1978) Biochemistry 17:4900), such as enolase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, hexokinase, pyruvate decarboxylase, phosphofructokinase, glucose-6-phosphate isomerase, 3-phosphoglycerate mutase, pyruvate kinase, triosephosphate isomerase, phosphoglucose isomerase, and glucokinase. Suitable vectors and promoters for use in yeast expression are further disclosed in EP 73,657.

In plant cells, expression systems are often derived from recombinant Ti and Ri plasmid vector systems. In the cointegrate class of shuttle vectors, the gene of interest is inserted by genetic recombination into a non-oncogenic Ti plasmid that contains both the cis-acting and trans-acting elements required for plant transformation. Exemplary vectors include the pMLJ1 shuttle vector (DeBlock, et al. (1984) EMBO J. 3:1681-1689) and the non-oncogenic Ti plasmid pGV2850 (Zambryski, et al. (1983) EMBO J. 2:2143-2150). In the binary system, the gene of interest is inserted into a shuttle vector containing the cis-acting elements required for plant transformation. The other necessary functions are provided in trans by the non-oncogenic Ti plasmid. Exemplary vectors include the pBIN19 shuttle vector (Bevan (1984) Nucl. Acids Res. 12:8711-8721) and the non-oncogenic Ti plasmid pAL4404 (Hoekema, et al. (1983) Nature 303:179-180).

Promoters used in plant expression systems are typically derived from the genome of plant cells (e.g., heat shock promoters; the promoter for the small subunit of RUBISCO; the promoter for the chlorophyll a/b binding protein) or from plant viruses (e.g., the 35S RNA promoter of CaMV; the coat protein promoter of TMV).

In mammalian cells the recombinant expression vector may be a plasmid. Alternatively, a recombinant expression vector may be a virus, or a portion thereof, which allows for expression of a nucleic acid introduced into the viral nucleic acid. For example, replication-defective retroviruses, adenoviruses and adeno-associated viruses may be used. Protocols for producing recombinant retroviruses and for infecting cells in vitro or in vivo with such viruses may be found in Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Ausubel, F. M. et al. (eds.) Greene Publishing Associates, (1989), Sections 9.10-9.14 and other standard laboratory manuals. Examples of suitable retroviruses include, but are not limited to, pLJ, pZIP, pWE and pEM which are well-known to those skilled in the art. Examples of suitable packaging virus lines include, but are not limited to, ψcrip, ψCre, ψ2 and ψAm. The genome of adenovirus may be manipulated such that it encodes and expresses ATM kinase but is inactivated in terms of its ability to replicate in a normal lytic viral life cycle (Berkner, et al. (1988) BioTechniques 6:616; Rosenfeld, et al. (1991) Science 252:431-434; Rosenfeld, et al. (1992) Cell 68:143-155). Suitable adenoviral vectors derived from the adenovirus strain Ad type 5 d1324 or other strains of adenovirus (e.g., Ad2, Ad3, Ad7 etc.) are well-known to those skilled in the art. Alternatively, an adeno-associated virus vector such as that taught by Tratschin, et al. ((1985) Mol. Cell. Biol. 5:3251-3260) may be used to express ATM kinase.

In mammalian expression systems, the regulatory sequences are often provided by the viral genome. Commonly used promoters are derived from polyoma, Adenovirus 2, cytomegalovirus and Simian Virus 40. For example, the human cytomegalovirus IE promoter (Boshart, et al. (1985) Cell 41:521-530), HSV-Tk promoter (McKnight, et al. (1984) Cell 37:253-262) and β-actin promoter (Ng, et al. (1985) Mol. Cell. Biol. 5:2720-2732) may be useful in the expression of ATM kinase in mammalian cells. Alternatively, the regulatory sequences of the recombinant expression vector may direct expression of ATM kinase preferentially in a particular cell type, i.e., tissue-specific regulatory elements can be used. Examples of tissue-specific promoters which may be used include, but are not limited to, the albumin promoter (liver-specific; Pinkert, et al. (1987) Genes Dev. 1:268-277), lymphoid-specific promoters (Calame and Eaton (1988) Adv. Immunol. 43:235-275), promoters of T cell receptors (Winoto and Baltimore (1989) EMBO J. 8:729-733) and immunoglobulins (Banerji, et al. (1983) Cell 33:729-740; Queen and Baltimore (1983) Cell 33:741-748), neuron-specific promoters (e.g., the neurofilament promoter; Byrne and Ruddle (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 86:5473-5477), pancreas-specific promoters (Edlund, et al. (1985) Science 230:912-916), and mammary gland-specific promoters (e.g., milk whey promoter; U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,316; EP 264,166). Developmentally-regulated promoters are also encompassed, for example the murine hox promoters (Kessel and Gruss (1990) Science 249:374-379) and the α-fetoprotein promoter (Camper and Tilghman (1989) Genes Dev. 3:537-546).

When the host cell is from an insect (e.g., Spodoptera frugiperda cells), expression vectors such as the baculovirus expression vector (e.g., vectors derived from Autographa californica MNPV, Trichoplusia ni MNPV, Rachiplusia ou MNPV; or Galleria ou MNPV, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,745,051 and 4,879,236) may be employed to express ATM kinase. In general, a baculovirus expression vector comprises a baculovirus genome containing nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase inserted into the polyhedrin gene at a position ranging from the polyhedrin transcriptional start signal to the ATG start site and under the transcriptional control of a baculovirus polyhedrin promoter.

Escherichia coli is the most common prokaryotic expression system. Exemplary E. coli strains include W3110 (ATCC 27325), E. coli B, E. coli X1776 (ATCC 31537), and E. coli 294 (ATCC 31446). E. coli is typically transformed using pBR322 (Bolivar, et al. (1977) Gene 2:95) and derivatives thereof.

Promoters most commonly used in recombinant prokaryotic expression vectors include the beta-lactamase (penicillinase) and lactose promoter systems (Chang, et al. (1978) Nature 275:615; Goeddel, et al. (1979) Nature 281:544), a tryptophan (trp) promoter system (Goeddel, et al. (1980) Nucl. Acids Res. 8:4057; EP 36,776) the tac promoter (De Boer, et al. (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 80:21) and pL of bacteriophage 1. These promoters and Shine-Dalgarno sequence may be used for efficient expression of ATM kinase in prokaryotes.

ATM kinase is expressed in a cell by introducing nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase into a host cell, wherein the nucleic acids are in a form suitable for expression of ATM kinase in the host cell. Alternatively, nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase which are operatively-linked to regulatory sequences (e.g., promoter sequences) but without additional vector sequences may be introduced into a host cell. As used herein, a host cell is intended to include any prokaryotic or eukaryotic cell or cell line so long as the cell or cell line is not incompatible with the protein to be expressed, the selection system chosen or the fermentation system employed. Exemplary examples of mammalian cell lines include, but are not limited to, those exemplified herein as well as CHO dhfr-cells (Urlaub and Chasin (1980) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77:4216-4220), 293 cells (Graham, et al. (1977) J. Gen. Virol. 36:59) or myeloma cells like SP2 or NSO (Galfre and Milstein (1981) Meth. Enzymol. 73(B):3-46).

Soluble ATM kinase may be produced in by a variety of non-mammalian eukaryotic cells as well, including insect (e. g., Spodoptera frugiperda), yeast (e.g., S. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Pichia pastoris, Kluveromyces lactis, Hansenula Polymorpha and Candida albicans, and fungal cells (Neurospora crassa, Aspergillus nidulins, Aspergillus fumigatus).

Nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase may be introduced into a host cell by standard techniques for transforming cells. Transformation or transfection are intended to encompass all conventional techniques for introducing nucleic acid into host cells, including calcium phosphate co-precipitation, DEAE-dextran-mediated transfection, lipofection, electroporation, microinjection, polyethylene glycol-mediated transformation, viral infection, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, cell fusion, and ballistic bombardment. Suitable methods for transforming host cells may be found in Sambrook, et al. (Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory press (1989)) and other laboratory manuals.

The number of host cells transformed with a nucleic acid sequence encoding ATM kinase will depend, at least in part, upon the type of recombinant expression vector used and the type of transformation technique used. Nucleic acids may be introduced into a host cell transiently, or more typically, for long-term expression of ATM kinase, the nucleic acid is stably integrated into the genome of the host cell or remains as a stable episome in the host cell. Plasmid vectors introduced into mammalian cells are typically integrated into host cell DNA at only a low frequency. In order to identify these integrants, a gene that contains a selectable marker (e.g., drug resistance) is generally introduced into the host cells along with the nucleic acids of interest. Preferred selectable markers include those which confer resistance to certain drugs, such as G418 and hygromycin. Selectable markers may be introduced on a separate plasmid from the nucleic acids of interest or introduced on the same plasmid. Host cells transfected with nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase (e.g., a recombinant expression vector) and a gene for a selectable marker may be identified by selecting for cells using the selectable marker. For example, if the selectable marker encodes a gene conferring neomycin resistance, host cells which have taken up nucleic acid may be selected with G418 resistance. Cells that have incorporated the selectable marker gene will survive, while the other cells die.

A host cell transformed with nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase may be further transformed with one or more nucleic acids which serve as the target for ATM kinase.

Nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase may be introduced into cells growing in culture in vitro by conventional transformation techniques (e.g., calcium phosphate precipitation, DEAE-dextran transfection, electroporation, etc.). Nucleic acids may also be transferred into cells in vivo, for example by application of a delivery mechanism suitable for introduction of nucleic acid into cells in vivo, such as retroviral vectors (see e.g., Ferry, et al. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:8377-8381; Kay, et al. (1992) Hum. Gene Ther. 3:641-647), adenoviral vectors (see e.g., Rosenfeld (1992) Cell 68:143-155; Herz and Gerard (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:2812-2816), receptor-mediated DNA uptake (see e.g., Wu and Wu (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263:14621; Wilson, et al. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267:963-967; U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,320), direct injection of DNA uptake (see e.g., Acsadi, et al. (1991) Nature 334:815-818; Wolff, et al. (1990) Science 247:1465-1468) or particle bombardment (see e.g., Cheng, et al. (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:4455-4459; Zelenin, et al. (1993) FEBS Let. 315:29-32). Nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase may be transferred into a fertilized oocyte of a non-human animal to create a transgenic animal which expresses ATM kinase in one or more cell types. A transgenic animal is an animal having cells that contain a transgene, wherein the transgene was introduced into the animal or an ancestor of the animal at a prenatal, e.g., an embryonic, stage. A transgene is a DNA which is integrated into the genome of a cell from which a transgenic animal develops and which remains in the genome of the mature animal, thereby directing the expression of an encoded gene product in one or more cell types or tissues of the transgenic animal. Exemplary examples of non-human animals include, but are not limited to, mice, goats, sheep, pigs, cows or other domestic farm animals. Such transgenic animals are useful, for example, for large-scale production of ATM kinase (gene pharming) or for basic research investigations.

A transgenic animal may be created, for example, by introducing a nucleic acid sequence encoding ATM kinase, typically linked to appropriate regulatory sequences, such as a constitutive or tissue-specific enhancer, into the male pronuclei of a fertilized oocyte, e.g., by microinjection, and allowing the oocyte to develop in a pseudopregnant female foster animal. Intron sequences and polyadenylation signals may also be included in the transgene to increase the efficiency of expression of the transgene. Methods for generating transgenic animals, particularly animals such as mice, have become conventional in the art and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,736,866 and 4,870,009. A transgenic founder animal may be used to breed additional animals carrying the transgene. Transgenic animals carrying a transgene encoding ATM kinase may further be bred to other transgenic animals carrying other transgenes, e.g., p53.

Once produced, the ATM kinase may be recovered from the culture medium as a secreted polypeptide, although it also may be recovered from host cell lysates when directly expressed without a secretory signal. When ATM kinase is expressed in a recombinant cell other than one of human origin, the ATM kinase is completely free of proteins or polypeptides of human origin. However, it is necessary to purify ATM kinase from recombinant cell proteins or polypeptides to obtain preparations that are substantially homogeneous as to ATM kinase. As a first step, the culture medium or lysate is centrifuged to remove particulate cell debris. The membrane and soluble protein fractions are then separated. The ATM kinase may then be purified from the soluble protein fraction. ATM kinase thereafter is purified from contaminant soluble proteins and polypeptides, as exemplified herein or with, for example, the. following suitable purification procedures: by fractionation on immunoaffinity or ion-exchange columns; ethanol precipitation; reverse phase HPLC; chromatography on silica or on a cation-exchange resin such as DEAE; chromatofocusing; SDS-PAGE; ammonium sulfate precipitation; gel filtration using, for example, Sephadex G-75; ligand affinity chromatography, and protein A Sepharose columns to remove contaminants such as IgG.

A further aspect of the invention provides a cell-based method of identifying agents which modulate activation of ATM kinase. As indicated, ATM kinase in an unperturbed cell is in an inactive state. Upon DNA damage, ATM kinase is autophosphorylated at Ser¹⁹⁸¹ and converted to an active state. Therefore, an agent which modulates this autophosphorylation (i.e., activation) event may be identified in a screening assay by contacting a cell producing full-length ATM kinase or a fragment thereof retaining ATM kinase activity with an agent and determining the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹. Activation of ATM kinase may be modulated by blocking, inhibiting or decreasing activation (i.e., antagonizing) as well as activating, stimulating, or increasing activation (i.e., agonizing). Enhancers of ATM kinase activation may also be identified in this screening assay as agents which increase the rate or amount of ATM kinase activation following DNA damage. A typical screening assay for antagonists comprises contacting an unperturbed cell with an agent, exposing said cell to a DNA damaging agent and determining whether said agent blocks or inhibits activation of ATM kinase. In contrast, a typical screening assay for agonists comprises contacting an unperturbed cell with an agent and determining whether said agent stimulates activation of ATM kinase. Methods for identifying the activation state of ATM kinase in a cell are provided herein. In a preferred embodiment, activation of ATM kinase is identified by determining the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ using antibodies which specifically recognize the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase.

A further aspect of the invention provides a cell-free method of identifying agents which modulate ATM kinase activity. Soluble ATM kinase protein produced by the method disclosed herein is isolated as a monomer in an active state with an unphosphorylated Ser¹⁹⁸¹ and upon addition of a phosphate donor, autophosphorylates Ser¹⁹⁸¹ in the absence of DNA/DNA damage. Therefore, a typical screening assay using soluble ATM kinase protein comprises contacting soluble ATM kinase with an agent, exposing the soluble ATM kinase to a phosphate donor such as ATP, and detecting ATM kinase activity via autophosphorylation. The assay is carried out under suitable assay conditions for autophosphorylation, such as those exemplified herein. The phosphate donor may be added with or after the agent. It is preferred that autophosphorylation is detected using an antibody which specifically recognizes the phosphorylation state of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ of ATM kinase.

Agents which antagonize ATM kinase activity are useful as radiosensitizers or chemosensitizers in the treatment of a wide variety of human tumors. Agents which agonize ATM kinase activity are useful as radioprotectors, cancer chemoprevention agents, and anti-aging agents.

It has now been found that cells treated with chloroquine prior to irradiation have increased cell survival by 30% (see Example 6). Interestingly, the cells treated, namely HeLa cells, are a known radioresistant cell line in which additional radioprotection was attained with chloroquine treatment.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for enhancing a cellular response to DNA damage by administering an effective amount of an agent which agonizes the activation of ATM kinase. It is contemplated that cellular responses are enhanced by an agonist to ATM kinase by priming the cell to respond to agents which damage DNA including, but not limited to, radiation, toxins, and carcinogens, and natural processes or unnatural exposures to agents which cause oxidative DNA damage. In this method, the agonist would be administered enough in advance of exposure to the DNA damaging agent to provide the enhancing effect. As used herein, an effective amount of ATM agonist is an amount which, for example, reduces DNA damage, reduces DNA mutation or increases survival of cells exposed to a DNA damaging agent when compared to cells exposed to the same DNA damaging agent and not receiving an ATM agonist. Exemplary agonists which may be used in accordance with the method of.the present invention include chloroquine and Trichostatin A. In one preferred embodiment, the agonist to ATM kinase is radioprotectant for preventing damage to DNA caused by, for example, ionizing or nuclear radiation. In another preferred embodiment, the agonist to ATM kinase is cancer chemopreventive for preventing tumor cell growth, progression and metastasis. Mice carrying supernumerary copies of the p53 gene exhibit significant protection from cancer when compared with normal mice (Garcia-Cao, et al. (2002) EMBO J. 21:6225-35). Accordingly, a cancer chemoprevention agent may be used to activate p53 via ATM kinase activation to enhance resistance to certain cancers. In another preferred embodiment, the agonist to ATM kinase is anti-aging. An agent which activates ATM kinase to enhance cell responses to oxidative stress may slow the aging process.

As demonstrated herein, activation of ATM kinase induces phosphorylation and activation of p53. Manipulating p53-mediated pathways by way of ATM kinase activation is useful for enhancing cellular responses to a variety of agents which normally do not activate ATM kinase. Thus, in another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an agent which agonizes the activation of ATM kinase enhances cellular responses to DNA-damage via activation of p53-mediated pathways.

Agents which may be screened using the screening assays provided herein encompass numerous chemical classes, though typically they are organic molecules, preferably small organic compounds having a molecular weight of more than 100 and less than about 2,500 daltons. Agents comprise functional groups necessary for structural interaction with proteins, particularly hydrogen bonding, and typically include at least an amine, carbonyl, hydroxyl or carboxyl group, preferably at least two of the functional chemical groups. The agents often comprise cyclical carbon or heterocyclic structures and/or aromatic or polyaromatic structures substituted with one or more of the above functional groups. Agents may also be found among biomolecules including peptides, antibodies, saccharides, fatty acids, steroids, purines, pyrimidines, derivatives, structural analogs or combinations thereof.

Agents are obtained from a wide variety of sources including libraries of synthetic or natural compounds. Alternatively, the antibodies of this invention may be used for the design and synthesis of either peptide or non-peptide compounds (mimetics) specific to ATM kinase (see, e.g., Saragovi, et al. (1991) Science 253:792-795).

A variety of other reagents may be included in the screening assays. These include reagents like salts, neutral proteins, e.g., albumin, detergents, etc. which may be used to facilitate optimal protein-protein binding and/or reduce non-specific or background interactions. Also, reagents that otherwise improve the efficiency of the assay, such as protease inhibitors, nuclease inhibitors, anti-microbial agents, and the like may be used. The mixture of components may be added in any order, that provides for the requisite binding.

Alternatively, the soluble ATM kinase provided herein may be used to generate a crystal structure of ATM kinase. Once the three-dimensional structure of ATM kinase is determined, a potential agent (antagonist or agonist) can be examined through the use of computer modeling using a docking program such as GRAM, DOCK, or AUTODOCK (Dunbrack, et al. (1997) Folding & Design 2:27-42). This procedure can include computer fitting of potential agents to ATM kinase to ascertain how well the shape and the chemical structure of the potential ligand will complement or interfere with, the binding of ATM kinase domain with a substrate. Computer programs can also be employed to estimate the attraction, repulsion, and steric hindrance of the agent. Generally the tighter the fit (e.g., the lower the steric hindrance, and/or the greater the attractive force) the more potent the potential agent will be since these properties are consistent with a tighter binding constraint. Furthermore, the more specificity in the design of a potential agent the more likely that the agent will not interfere with related mammalian proteins. This will minimize potential side-effects due to unwanted interactions with other proteins.

The invention is described in greater detail by the following non-limiting example.

EXAMPLE 1 Cell Culture, Immunofluorescence

293T cells, HeLa cells and 1070SK primary human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) (>passage 20, ATCC) were cultured in Dulbecco's Modification of Eagle's Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). GM00637 and GM09607 fibroblasts were grown in DMEM containing 15% FBS. GM00536 lymphoblast cells were grown in RPMI supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. 293T cells were transfected using FUGENE™ (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind.) and HeLa cells, GM00637 and GM09607 with LIPOFECTAMINE™ (INVITROGEN™ Corp., Carlsbad, Calif.). Metabolic labeling was performed by pre-equilibrating cells in phosphate-free media for three hours prior to the addition of 0.5 mCi/ml ³²P orthophosphate (PerkinElmer Life Sciences Inc., Boston, Mass.) for 30 minutes. Inhibition of DNA synthesis and analysis of G2/M checkpoint after irradiation was assessed using well-known methods (e.g., Xu, et al. (2001) Mol. Cell. Biol. 21:3445-3450). Wortmannin was added to samples on ice 15 minutes prior to reactions and 5 μM manganese and 1 μg sonicated calf thymus DNA were present or absent. Proteins were crosslinked by incubating cells in formaldehyde/phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 10 minutes at room temperature. Formaldehyde was washed out using PBS containing 100 mM glycine and immunoprecipitation was then performed. Hypotonic swelling was performed for 1 hour in PBS containing 0.45% glucose (w/v) and 1% FBS with the NaCl concentration reduced to either 50 mM or 100 mM. HFF were incubated with chloroquine in DMEM containing 10% FBS for four hours. Prior to an eight hour incubation with Trichostatin A, HFF was grown for 24 hours in DMEM containing 0.1% FBS. No cell death was observed in chloroquine or in hypotonic conditions and all cells recovered when put back in isotonic conditions. For immunofluoresence experiments, HFF grown on glass slides were fixed in 50% methanol/50% acetone for two hours at −20° C. Cells were incubated with primary antibodies at 1/1000 (H2AXγ; Upstate, Charlottesville, Va.) and secondary antibodies at 1/500 (Cy3 anti-mouse and FITC anti-rabbit; Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, Inc., West Grove, Pa.) in PBS, 10% FBS for one hour.

EXAMPLE 2 Plasmids and Recombinant Protein Purification

FLAG®-tagged wild-type and kinase-inactive ATM are well-known in the art (e.g., Canman, et al. (1998) Science 281:1677-1679). Wild-type, FLAG®-tagged ATM was mutated using the QUIKCHANGE® site-directed mutagenesis kit (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif.). The I-SceI expression plasmid is well-known in the art (Rouet, et al. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:6064-6068). GST fusion proteins were expressed in BL21 from pGEX-4T-1 (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). Fusion proteins were purified and GST pull-down experiments performed by binding to glutathione-SEPHAROSE® beads (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.) in PBS, 0.5% NP-40, 1 mM AEBSF and 1 mM DTT. Bound proteins were washed five times in the same buffer and eluted with 20 mM glutathione in 50 mM Tris/HCl, pH 8.0. ATM kinase domain was expressed from pET28 (NOVAGEN®, Inc., Madison, Wis.). Recombinant ATM with N-terminal 6x-His and FLAG® tags was expressed from pYES2 (INVITROGEN™, Carlsbad, Calif.) in JEL1, a protease-deficient S. cerevisiae strain that overexpresses the transcription factor GAL4 driven by the GAL1 promoter (Lindsley and Wang (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268:8096-8104). Following induction in 2% galactose for 16 hours yeast were lysed in 50 mM sodium phosphate pH 8.0, 300 mM NaCl, 0.4 μM aprotinin, 1 mM AEBSF, 1x soy trypsin inhibitor (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind.), 1.5 mM pepstatin and 42 μM leupeptin by three passages through a French press. Lysates were cleared by centrifugation at 35,000 rpm in a 45Ti centrifuge (Beckman COULTER®, Inc., Fullerton, Calif.). For anti-FLAG® M2 sepharose (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.) affinity purification TWEEN® 20 and NP-40 were added to 1% and 0.5% respectively. FLAG® ATM was eluted in 100 μg/ml FLAG® peptide (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.) in buffer A: 50 mM Tris (pH 7.5), 150 mM NaCl, 1% TWEEN® 20, 0.5% NP-40, 50 mM NaF, 1 mM AEBSF, and 1x protease inhibitor mixture (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind.). Size-exclusion chromatography was performed using a SUPERDEX® 200HR 10/30 column (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden) in 50 mM sodium phosphate, pH 8.0 containing 150 mM NaCl. For Ni-NTA affinity purification, 20 mM imidazole was added to the lysates. 6x-His ATM was eluted from the nickel beads in 500 mM imidazole, pH 5.0, 300 mM NaCl and 2 mM EDTA.

EXAMPLE 3 Immunoprecipitation, in vitro ATM Kinase Assays, and Peptide Mapping

Mammalian cell extracts were prepared in buffer A. Cleared supernatants were immunoprecipitated with anti-FLAG® M2 sepharose or anti-ATM D1611 (Alligood, et al. (2000) Hybridoma 19:317-321) and protein A/G agarose. Beads were washed twice with buffer A and twice with RIPA buffer. Co-immunoprecipitation was performed in buffer B: 50 mM Tris (pH 7.5), 150 mM NaCl, 0.5% TWEEN® 20, 0.2% NP-40, 50 mM NaF, 1 mM AEBSF, and 1x protease inhibitor mixture (Roche, Indianapolis, Ind.).

Ionizing irradiation induces phosphorylation of ATM at a single amino acid residue. The residue and consequence of ATM phosphorylation were examined by transiently transfecting 293T cells with either FLAG®-tagged wild-type or kinase-inactive ATM and metabolically labeling with ³²P-orthophosphate. The amount of radioactive orthophosphate incorporated into transfected wild-type ATM thirty minutes after exposure of cells to 10 Gy IR. was approximately five-fold greater than that seen in unirradiated cells. In contrast, no such increase was observed following irradiation of cells that had been transfected with kinase-inactive ATM. Similarly, the amount of phosphate incorporated into endogenous ATM in immortalized lymphoblasts was markedly increased following IR. Short labeling periods were required for these experiments since exposure of cells to these amounts of radioactive orthophosphate for longer than thirty minutes damages DNA and obscures differences between irradiated and unirradiated cells (Lim, et al. (2000) Nature 404:613-617; Siliciano, et al. (1997) Genes Dev. 11:3471-3481).

Incorporation of radioactive phosphate into ATM also occurs in in vitro assays of ATM kinase activity (Canman, et al. (1998) Science 281:1677-1679; Kim, et al. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274:37538-37543). For in vitro kinase assays, beads were washed twice with buffer A, twice with buffer A containing 0.5 M LiCl, and twice with kinase buffer: 20 mM HEPES (pH 7.5), 50 mM NaCl, 10 mM MgCl₂ and 10 mM MnCl₂. ATM kinase reactions were performed at 30° C. for five minutes in 50 μl of kinase buffer containing 10 μCi of [γ-³²P] ATP and 1 μg of GST-fusion substrate. In vitro phosphorylation of ATM was not seen with the kinase-inactive ATM protein; was inhibited by exposure to 30 mM of the PI-3K inhibitor wortmannin; was dependent on the addition of the divalent cation manganese; and was not dependent on addition of exogenous DNA. Identical properties are characteristic of ATM in its phosphorylation of target substrates: a concentration of 30 nM wortmannin effectively inhibits ATM kinase activity (Sarkaria, et al. (1998) Cancer Res. 58:4375-4382); its activity requires the presence of manganese (Canman, et al. (1998) Science 281:1677-1679; Kim, et al. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274:37538-37543); and exogenous DNA does not enhance its activity after immunoprecipitation from cells (Kim, et al. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274:37538-37543). Together with the observation that ATM kinase activity was required for the increase in ATM phosphorylation seen during metabolic labeling of cells, these findings indicate that ATM phosphorylates itself.

The site of phosphorylation in ATM was identified by radioactively labeling ATM protein, digesting with trypsin, and analyzing tryptic phosphopeptides by sequential two-dimensional (2-D) electrophoresis and chromatography. Tryptic digestion of FLAG® ATM immobilized on nitrocellulose, 2-D resolution (electrophoresis and chromatography), manual Edman degradation and V8 digestion of peptides isolated from thin-layer chromatography plates were performed using well-known methods (Meisenhelder et al. Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. Ausubel, F. M. et al. (eds.) (1999) ). A single de novo phosphorylated peptide was identified in both transfected FLAG®-tagged ATM and in endogenous ATM isolated from irradiated cells. Since the increase in phosphorylation of this peptide was seen in vivo with wild-type, but not kinase-inactive ATM, this event is consistent with IR-inducible ATM autophosphorylation.

The ATM amino acid residue phosphorylated following IR was determined. The phosphopeptide identified by thin layer chromatography was isolated and subjected to acid hydrolysis. Resolution of the labeled phosphoamino acid by 2-D electrophoresis with unlabeled phosphoamino acid markers revealed phosphoserine. There are 121 predicted tryptic peptides in ATM containing a single phosphoserine residue and many additional peptides containing two or more. Direct identification of the phosphopeptide by automated sequencing and mass spectrometry failed, at least in part due to difficulties in obtaining sufficient quantities of material.

The predicted migrations of tryptic serine-containing phosphopeptides in ATM eliminated many candidates. Forty-one tryptic serine phosphopeptides, whose theoretical migration satisfied criteria for that of the principal peptide at pH 1.9 and pH 4.72, were synthesized and subjected to 2-D electrophoresis and chromatography along with tryptic digests of radioactively labeled ATM. The theoretical and observed migrations of the 41 peptides were coincident at both pH's but this nonetheless failed to identify the radiolabeled phosphopeptide.

Many kinases are activated by phosphorylation within their kinase domains (Johnson and Noble (1996) Cell 85:149-158), therefore, each serine in the kinase domain, as well as several other Ser-Gln sequences in ATM, were subjected to site-directed mutagenesis. Individual serines in wild-type, FLAG®-tagged ATM were mutated to glycine or alanine and the mutants were expressed, immunoprecipitated and allowed to autophosphorylate in vitro. The labeled, mutant ATM proteins were then digested with trypsin and the resulting tryptic phosphopeptides were resolved by 2-D mapping. Surprisingly, the major phosphopeptide was still detected on 2-D maps of each ATM mutant, all of which retained kinase activity. Therefore, none of the serines in the kinase domain of ATM are required for its kinase activity.

The major ATM phosphopeptide was identified. by use of secondary proteolytic and chemical cleavage of the primary phosphopeptide. After in vivo radioactive labeling of ATM protein and purification of the phosphopeptide from the thin layer chromatography plate, the purified tryptic phosphopeptide was digested with V8 protease. The appearance of a peptide with a new mobility on 2-D maps dictated the presence of a glutamic acid in the peptide. Furthermore, an unchanged chromatographic mobility after cyanogen bromide treatment of the purified tryptic phosphopeptide in formic acid indicated that it did not contain methionine.

Manual Edman degradation was then performed on both the tryptic serine phosphopeptide and the derived V8/tryptic phosphopeptide. Resolution of the Edman degradation products revealed a secondary spot in each cycle suggesting a derivatized peptide. If the peptide being treated in the Edman reaction contains a C-terminal lysine, the phenylisothiocyanate treatment followed by acid treatment causes a derivatization of the lysine ε-amino group (Meisenhelder et al. Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. Ausubel, F. M. et al. (eds.) (1999)). Thus, the manual Edman reactions indicated that the phosphopeptide of interest had a C-terminal lysine. The second cycle of Edman degradation resulted in the generation of free phosphate from the V8/tryptic phosphopeptide. Thus, the phosphorylated serine is two amino acid residues to the C-terminal side of a glutamic acid residue. Further cycles of Edman degradation were required to release the phosphate from the original tryptic phosphopeptide, with generation of some free phosphate at cycle eight and substantial release at cycle nine. Thus, the phosphorylated serine in the larger peptide was eight or nine amino acid residues to the C-terminal side of either a lysine or arginine residue.

Although inefficiencies in the manual Edman degradation process cause difficulties when more than five or six cycles are required for amino acid release (Meisenhelder et al. Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. Ausubel, F. M. et al. (eds.) (1999)), a partial sequence was obtained for the major serine phosphopeptide of Xaa₅₋₆-Glu-Xaa-Ser-Xaa_(n)-Lys (SEQ ID NO:3) (where Xaa is any amino acid other than Met, the N-terminus contains 5-6 residues, and the sequence preceding the C-terminal Lys is of unknown length, n). The only tryptic peptide in ATM which meets these sequence requirements is the 19 residue peptide 1974-Ser-Leu-Ala-Phe-Glu-Glu-Gly-Ser-Gln-Ser-Thr-Thr-Ile-Ser-Ser-Leu-Ser-Glu-Lys-1992 (SEQ ID NO:4). In addition, since V8 protease does not cleave at every glutamic acid in a peptide sequence, the adjacent residues Glu¹⁹⁷⁸ and Glu¹⁹⁷⁹ explain the release of free phosphate at both cycles two and three in the manual Edman degradation of the V8/tryptic phosphopeptide. The V8 phosphopeptide was likely a mixture of two peptides that were unresolved on the 2-D map at pH 1.9, one of which had been cleaved at Glu¹⁹⁷⁸ and one at Glu¹⁹⁷⁹. It is noted that V8 did not digest the tryptic phosphopeptide at Glu¹⁹⁹¹ since the derivatization of Lys¹⁹⁹² in the manual Edman degradation of the V8/tryptic phosphopeptide was seen. Ser¹⁹⁸¹ in ATM is conserved in mouse and Xenopus ATM, but is not found in suspected homologues of less complex metazoans and is located in the N-terminus of the FAT domain, a region of approximately 500 amino acid residues with some conservation across the PI-3K family of kinases including Frap, ATM and Trapp (Bosotti, et al. (2000) Trends Biochem. Sci. 25:225-227). It is also noted that this is an ‘Ser-Gln’ site, thus indicating either an autophosphorylation event or phosphorylation by an ATM family member.

EXAMPLE 4 Western Blotting and Antisera Production

Western blotting was performed with anti-FLAG® M5 (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.), anti-ATM MAT3, anti-GST (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden) or anti-6x-His (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.). Anti-Ser¹⁹⁸¹ and anti-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P specific antibodies were generated by immunizing rabbits with KLH-conjugated synthetic peptides Ser-Leu-Ala-Phe-Glu-Glu-Gly-Ser-Gln-Ser-Thr-Thr-Ile-Ser-Ser (SEQ ID NO:5) (three animals) and Ser-Leu-Ala-Phe-Glu-Glu-Gly-Ser(P)-Gln-Ser-Thr-Thr-Ile-Ser-Ser (SEQ ID NO:6) (6 animals), respectively (Rockland Immunochemicals, Gilbertsville, Pa.).

EXAMPLE 5 Autophosphorylation

Autophosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ was determined using glutathione-S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins containing various lengths of ATM as substrates of the ATM kinase in in vitro kinase reactions. A polypeptide containing the appropriate serine residue at 1981 was an excellent in vitro substrate, whereas a Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala mutant was not phosphorylated by ATM whether the read-out was incorporation of radioactive phosphate or binding by the α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P antibody. In addition, wortmannin concentrations of 20 μM or more effectively inhibited phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ following irradiation of human diploid fibroblasts. This concentration of wortmannin inhibits both ATM and DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), but not ataxia- and Rad3-related protein (ATR), in vivo (Sarkaria, et al. (1998) Cancer Res. 58:4375-4382). To exclude DNA-PK as a responsible kinase, phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ was determined in a cell line lacking DNA-PK activity. The kinetics and levels of IR-induced phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ were identical to those in a similar cell line containing DNA-PK activity.

In vivo experiments demonstrated that optimal phosphorylation of ATM was dependent on the presence of active ATM kinase, however, the cells used contained endogenous wild-type ATM. Thus, even the kinase-inactive mutant of ATM was phosphorylated to some extent in these cells. The importance of ATM kinase activity in the phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ was further analyzed using constructs encoding wild-type, kinase-inactive, and Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala ATM transfected into A-T cells such that the only potential source of ATM kinase activity was the transgene being utilized. All of these constructs were expressed at similar levels in A-T cells, but only wild-type ATM was recognized by α-Ser¹⁹⁸¹-P, and its binding was increased several-fold within 30 minutes after exposure to 10 Gy IR. Although some phosphorylation of kinase-inactive ATM was observed following transfection into 293T cells, which contain endogenous ATM activity, transfection into a cell line that lacked ATM kinase activity showed no detectable phosphorylation on Ser¹⁹⁸¹. Therefore, phosphorylation of Ser¹⁹⁸¹ depends on the activity of the ATM kinase itself and the phosphorylation of transfected kinase-inactive ATM must occur in trans.

Mutating Ser¹⁹⁸¹ did not abrogate ATM kinase activity in vitro, but conferred dominant inhibitory activity in cells. Expression vectors encoding wild-type and Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala ATM proteins were transfected into A-T fibroblasts and kinase activity was assessed by in vitro kinase assays performed with the immunoprecipitated ATM proteins. Both wild-type and Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala mutant ATM exhibited in vitro kinase activity directed against a peptide containing the Ser¹⁵ target sequence in p53. To explore the in vivo activity of the Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala mutant, nucleic acid sequences encoding ATM kinase were introduced into HeLa cells and the integrity of their ATM-dependent, IR-induced G2 and S-phase checkpoints was examined. Despite its kinase activity in the in vitro assay, Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala ATM mimicked kinase-inactive ATM in inhibiting both the IR-induced G2 checkpoint and S-phase replication arrest. Consistent with its abrogation of the IR-induced cell cycle checkpoints, the transfected Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala mutant also blocked the IR-induced phosphorylation of endogenous ATM protein on Ser¹⁹⁸¹. Thus, whereas phosphorylation of ATM on Ser¹⁹⁸¹ does not appear to be required for kinase activity in vitro, expression of Ser¹⁹⁸¹→Ala ATM effectively inhibits the cellular activities of endogenous ATM in a dominant-inhibitory manner.

EXAMPLE 6 Radioprotection Assay

HeLa cells were treated with 2 μg/ml of chloroquine for one hour, washed for one hour, and irradiated at 2 or 6 Gy. Subsequently, 1000 cells were plated and assessed for colony formation. Table 1 shows that exposure to chloroquine prior to irradiation increased cell survival by 30%.

TABLE 1 Average Number of Treatment Colonies* Std. Dev. 2 Gy 444 19.5 Chloroquine + 2Gy 580 21.2 6 Gy 94.6 10.6 Chloroquine + 6 Gy 129 8.6 *Averages were from five individual samples. 

1. A method of detecting a DNA damaging agent in a sample comprising contacting a cell containing Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated kinase with a sample suspected of having a DNA damaging agent and identifying the activation state of said kinase in the cell by determining the phosphorylation state of a serine corresponding to residue 1981 of Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated kinase of SEQ ID NO:1 wherein the phosphorylation state of said serine is indicative of the activation state of Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated kinase.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sample is a biological or environmental sample.
 3. A method of identifying an agent that modulates the activation state of Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated kinase comprising contacting a cell containing Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated kinase with an agent and identifying the activation state of said kinase by determining the phosphorylation state of a serine corresponding to residue 1981 of Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated kinase of SEQ ID NO:1 wherein the phosphorylation state of said serine is indicative of the activation state of Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated kinase.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the agent enhances the activation of Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated kinase.
 5. The method of claim 3 further comprising contacting said cell with a DNA damaging agent.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the agent antagonizes the activation of Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated kinase.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the modulating agent enhances the activation of ATM kinase. 